Music

The music ministry at Holy Trinity is comprised entirely of volunteer singers who love the Lord and the beautiful music of the Orthodox Church. We joyfully and prayerfully sing music from many Orthodox jurisdictions and traditions (usually in English), from centuries old Arabic and Greek chant traditions, through the classical compositions of Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, to modern compositions by Orthodox Americans. There are two distinct music ministry opportunities at Holy Trinity – Choir and Byzantine Chant. New members are welcome in both ministries. For more information please contact our Music Director, either directly when at the church, at the email address below or from the “Contacts” tab above.

CHOIR: Our mixed-voice choir sings for liturgical services, weddings, baptisms and funerals. There is great camaraderie among our members, who range in age from students to retirees. Several members have been with the choir since the founding of our parish in 1996. We have degreed musicians, people who can’t read a note and learn only by ear, and everything in between. In rehearsals we work on individual and choral vocal production, music reading skills, and liturgical music. We sing music in Byzantine and Russian chant styles as well as choral music from a variety of Orthodox traditions and countries – Arabic, Greek, Bulgarian, Georgian, Romanian, Russian, French Canadian, and American to name a few.

BYZANTINE CHANT: Byzantine chant is a liturgical music form with its origins in the monophonic vocal music of the early Christian Church, which in the 4th to 6th centuries became formalized at Byzantium and across the Byzantine Empire. Byzantine Chant is based on a modal system of eight tones. In the Byzantine tradition, these eight tones are based on established patterns, some of which are developments of pre-Christian Greek musical traditions, the others being later developments based on the same basic principles (the foregoing, excerpted from Liturgica.com). Chanters at Holy Trinity learn Byzantine Chant by studying and practicing with local mentors. We really enjoy learning and singing this ancient musical form.